Author photo by Carol Bloom

BRACHA NECHAMA BOMZE is a native New Yorker who visits the ocean whenever possible, dreaming she is a dolphin in human form. Her first political demonstration, in junior high, was the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. A “Take Bronx Out of the War” button pinned close to her heart, she joined nationwide student walk-outs, this with both parents’ full support, though she was otherwise not permitted to skip school unless she had a fever. Like her Aunt Rosie before her, she will love justice, and strive to protect our Big Blue Marble, for as long as she breathes.

Bracha lives in the 1903 apartment she calls “Carol’s Conservatory” with her mellifluous partner partner of 39 years, wife of 14.

Ever since receiving a personal blessing from peace activist and Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, Bracha remembers to notice and to celebrate “what’s not wrong in the world” (those refreshing moments of life which co-exist simultaneously with ongoing violence and cruelty), so as not to “drown in the tears of compassion.” Her name means “Blessing of Solace,” which she offers to you.